Born in 1796, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was a French landscape painter. His well-to-do family made it possible for him to pursue his passion for painting through their financial support. By the time he was in his fifties, his work had become very popular. So much so that Napoleon himself purchased one of his pieces.

I pray every day that God make me like a child, that is to say that he will let me see nature in the unprejudiced way that a child sees it. — Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

A diligent worker, Corot produced over 3,000 paintings during his career. Corot’s influences included Millet, Rouseau, and others from the Barbizon School whose painters were part of an art movement called Realism. Realism, with its deep, rich colors and tonal qualities, loose brushwork and overall softness of those things found in the painting, stood in contrast to then-popular Romantic Movement. His landscapes en plain air sketches inspired Impressionists such as Monet and Sisley. Camille Pissaro was a student of his at one point. Corot died at the age of 78 in 1875.

May we all remember Corot’s words and see the splendor and beauty of nature with a child’s eye.